FAITH // AD 590

 

The Pope rose early and began the morning in prayer. Rome was in shambles. The Tiber had flooded. Famine had ravished the land. War had torn through the empire. Barbarian kings had established small city-states throughout Rome. And now, plague. He was grieved, but not surprised. During his years as a monk in the Eastern Empire, God had given him eyes to see through the transient world as if it were only a veil. For two months, the plague had shown just how transient life could be- here one moment, gone the next- a vapor. He knew God was near, behind the curtain of creation waiting for it to be drawn back. Heaven was so near. It was a wonder that no one else could see them- the arrows of plague that devils sent raining down from above. To Pope Gregory I, they were clear as the rising sun, as tangible as the dust on his boots.

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Gregory was a figure that bore the old Roman glory- nobility, courage, virtue. For four years he toiled before the Emperor of Constantinople requesting help, food, warriors- but to no avail. If he could not find support in the East, he would simply have to implore God more fervently. Fear had no hold on the man. He could see Him Who stood behind the world, and He would deliver them, or else He would not. And so, Pope Gregory began the procession for the third day, not to St Peter for protection (as was the practice of the Latin church) but to the Mother of God, a practice of the East. One by one, preists and parishioners gathered behind him. As they walked through the stricken city of Rome, their simple prayer ascended to heaven: Kyrie Eleison. Lord have mercy. Their prayers and laments filled the streets. Eighty people collapsed dead from plague during the processions. Then, in the midst of their procession Pope Gregory saw Michael the Archangel standing atop the mausoleum of the Roman emperor Hadrian; he was sheathing his sword. The air around the icon of the Holy Mother, at one moment clouded with pestilence, was made pure and sweet. Stillness took hold. Death had ceased. God's wrath had been turned back. 

Faith had triumphed over plague.

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Image quote by Pope Gregory the Great